Title

adhimukti-parivartaḥ 

parivartaḥ—Chapter 

adhimukti—past participle of adhi+√muc 

√muc—free, loose, release 

adhi—above, besides, from, towards 

Inclined towards, confident in, propensity towards 

Pāli: adhimutta—P.E.D. gives intent upon, keen on, given to 

We shall see, rather than “willing acceptance,” adhimukti is really closer to one’s capacity for willing acceptance, thus I would suggest that disposition or inclination is a more appropriate translation. 

Overall Teaching

Once again, the sūtra teaches skilful means, clarifying a certain point using a parable. This time the emphasis is on the reception, i.e. acceptance, rather than upon the technique of skilful means itself.

Teachers in this Chapter

The teachers of this chapter are four eminent monks, rather than the Buddha, but as the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtras teach, that which is taught by the disciples of the Buddha who have realised the Dharma, is to be considered the word of the Buddha himself. In order that we know whom these figure are, we will briefly introduce them here.

    Subhūti—According to the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtras, “the Lord named [him] the foremost among wilderness dwellers” (Vaidya, ed., 3). He also has a profound understanding of the Perfection of Wisdom, teaching the other disciples, such as Śāripūtra. His name means well-being.

    Mahākātyāyana—His name means a great “descendant of Kati,” who was a sage whose father Viśvāmitra is mentioned in the Rig Veda. He was known as the foremost disciple at explicating what previously had been said in brief. He was a Brahmin who was converted with a group of six others. He is considered the composer of two texts from the Khuddaka Nikāya, The Guide, which is a grammatical treatise, and the Piṭaka-Disclosure, which is a treatise on methods of analysis, both of these were translated into English by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli.

    Mahākāśyapa—His name indicates that he is a descendent of the grammarian Kaśyapa, who is mentioned in the Rig Veda. He was already a prominent ascetic when he was converted by the Buddha, and was known as possessing the marks of a great man and all the powers of an arhat. He is most well-known for presiding over the First Council, where he recited the Abhidharma Piṭaka. In the Ch’an and other traditions, he is considered the first patriarch of the Sangha after the Buddha, followed by Ānanda. 

    Mahāmaudgalyāyana—He is often paired with Śāriputra in being considered one of the two leading disciples of the Buddha. His given name is Kolita, but he became known after his mother’s name Maudgalyāyanī. After having renounced as an ascetic with Śāriputra, they were both converted after meeting Aśvajit. They both died before the Buddha. He is most well-known for his power to read minds and his ability to converse with ghosts. He is also featured in the Ullambana Sūtra, where he repays his debt to his mother by rescuing her from the hells.

Chapter Summary

• 1. The four eminent disciples, having learned the teaching of the Buddha, which to clarify it with another parable: (79) 

  2. A father and son part when the son was young. (79) 

  3. Gradually the father becomes rich and the son becomes a beggar. (79-80) 

  4. The son comes to his father’s mansion to beg. (80) 

  5. The father recognizes him and wishes to help his son, but the beggar is taken aback, so the father lets him go. 

  6. The father has his servants hire the beggar as a menial labourer. 

  7. The son consents to work, and continues to work menial labour for many years. 

  8. Eventually, the father tells the beggar that in return for his dutiful service he will be rewarded with the inheritance of all of his possessions. 

  9. The father later tells his household-staff that the labourer is his son, and that he is reclaiming him and giving him inheritance of his possessions. 

  10. The beggar is shocked, having been told this unexpected surprise. 

  11. Similarly the disciples of the Buddha are like the son, secretly being led by the Buddha on the three vehicles to the One Buddha Vehicle through the Buddha’s skilful means. 

  12. The reason for the chapter’s title is then given just before the verse summary: the Buddha’s disciples “were content with lowly aspirations,” and “did not know that we really were the heirs of the Buddha.” In the Sanskrit: upāyakauśalyena tathāgato 'smākamadhimuktiṃ prajānāti, “By skilful means the Thus Come One brings forth our disposition (capacity for willing acceptance).” asmākaṃ cedānīṃ bhagavānadhimuktibalaṃ jñātvā idamudāhṛtavān, “and now, having known the power of our dispositions, the Lord declared this [One Vehicle].” 

Analysis

Drawing back to our discussion of the previous chapter, the Buddha taught after being implored by Brahma. Brahma told him that there are some beings who will be able to understand his Doctrine. Likewise, here, the disciples are saying that the Buddha knew the disciples could now understand, having known the power of their dispositions.  

Likewise, the beggar, at first, was taken aback by his father, thinking he was a king, he supposed that “if I stay here for very long I will be seized and put to forced labour.” He had to be made comfortable with the father gradually. Only then could the truth be revealed. In the meantime, the father took care of the welfare of his son. Likewise, all of the teachings the Buddha employs as skilful means are for the benefit and welfare of beings: the upholding of precepts, the practice of the noble eightfold path, the accumulation of merit, the maintenance of moral discipline, and so forth. 

Tao-sheng’s commentary points out that the disciples lacked disposition to practice the One Vehicle when they were being taught the Perfection of Wisdom because they intended only, then, to practice in signlessness and emptiness. (Kim, 430) 

As regards the parable, the analogy of Father to Buddha and Son to Bodhisattva is clear. However, some other points can be made, keeping in mind that these are interpretations and should be taken only as such: 

The son runs off to various places in the world as a beggar: this corresponds to being lost in the cycle of birth and death.  

He also is said gradually to return home to his city “after wandering through many villages, from one country and city to another.” (80) This teaches us how the journey is a gradual one; we should not expect instant results. The Buddha is a gentle and skilful teacher, and likewise we should be gentle on ourselves if we do not see perfection right away. As far as the riches of the father, the house that the son now has a share to is “the treasure house of the Tathāgata’s wisdom and insight.” (84) The father is also said to be adorned with jewels (80), which can signify that the Buddha is qualities of the triple gem, rather than a contingent historical figure. He is attended on both sides by “clerks and servants holding whisker fans,” which Tao-sheng interprets as the “hands of faith holding the teaching,” and “the dusters of wisdom free from the depravities” brushing off the dust of ignorance. (Kim, 439) 

As regards being destitute for fifty years and going in all directions, this signifies wandering through the various realms, and taking many aeons before one reaches the One Vehicle. Tao-sheng interprets the fifty years as being the “five forms of existence,” or the five realms (taking the demi-god and god realms as being one, there are five rather than six realms). (Kim, 437) The poor villages the son turns to after first rejecting his father’s palace are the “easier places” to obtain food, which symbolises the three vehicles, where the practices of precepts and meditation, but not the full One Buddha Vehicle, are seen as easier to obtain. (81) As regards his fear about being coerced to work if he stayed at his father’s house, this is certainly many people’s first impressions if they encounter the teaching of the Greater Vehicle: this is too hard, too difficult, not worth it. This was the point at which, when the son had become committed to going elsewhere (as a practitioner may be committed to the three vehicles) the conditions were seen as right for introducing the son to his household (the One Vehicle). (82) 

According to Tao-sheng, when the father’s servants grab and coerce the son, this is what happens to a practitioner when they meet the Greater Vehicle with the correct conditions and seeds in their mind: they are overcome by the instinct to attain Buddhahood and cannot turn back, their deeds from then on will be in service of that one goal, however gradual the journey may be to get to that point. Also, when the father says he is letting the son go, and the two attendants (symbolising the two vehicles) sprinkle him with water, after he faints, these are all skilful means: he knew that in the end the son would end up in his household. (Kim, 442-3) As for the father removing his ornaments and smearing himself with dirt when he goes to visit his son to encourage him, (82) this symbolises the quality of a Buddha in the world: Buddhahood is unstained and ultimately beyond appearances in this world: it manifests in the form of a human being, stained and depraved as such a form is, working for his attainment of Buddhahood as a prince. Just as the Skilful Means Sūtra teaches, the Buddha’s actions in this world are all a show manifested by the supreme principle that is Buddha. Likewise, in our practice of Humanistic Buddhism, we emphasise to the public that the Buddha was a human, born as a human in the human world: this is a skilful means. (Kim, 445-6) Ultimately, Buddhahood is a principle beyond human and non-human. But this cannot be taught to everyone on the street as soon as they encounter the Dharma for the first time. 

At one point, the son is given full access to his father’s quarters, and is addressed as his child, even before he realises that he is his son. (83) Just as we are often taught the Greater Vehicle repeatedly, and may be reading this Sūtra for the second time, if the conditions are not right, the realisation will not be present. The Buddha taught the Greater Vehicle to his disciples many times, e.g. Subhūti, Ānanda, Śāriputra, and even though they feel that they understood it, they remained in the conceptual framework of the three vehicles. The direct announcement, is the Lotus Sūtra. The other sūtras are only implicit in this. (Kim, 447-8) However, gradually, in the other sūtras, the Buddha was inspiring the disciples (śrāvakas) with the Greater Vehicle.